Justice Department must resolve Reno dispute now

Nov. 19, 2012

An ATF agent, in 2011, displays guns seized by the agency at various times in Reno. / Liz Margerum/RGJ

SNAPSHOT

ISSUE: ATF, U.S. Attorney rift OUR VIEW: The failure of the two law enforcement agencies to meet their responsibilities is putting Northern Nevadans at risk. Congress should demand a resolution.

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The ongoing dispute between the Reno offices of the U.S. Attorney and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — a dispute that should have been resolved months ago in the interest of effective law enforcement — has gone from the absurd to the downright dangerous.

The rift, more than a year old, already has resulted in the near decimation of the Reno ATF office, with five of six agents transferring to other offices, the Reno Gazette-Journal’s Martha Bellisle has reported, when the U.S. Attorney’s office refused to prosecute cases prepared by the ATF. In at least one case, the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office has stepped in to prosecute.

On Sunday, Bellisle reported the ATF is no longer picking up weapons purchased by nearly three dozen people who failed to pass a background check required by federal law. The ATF doesn’t have sufficient personnel to meet its most basic responsibilities, leaving guns in the hands of people who aren’t allowed to have them, most often because they’ve been convicted of felonies.

How many illegal handguns might still be on the streets because of the dispute is unknown, but it seems certain that the failure of the ATF to do its job has made things that much more dangerous for Northern Nevada citizens.

The Department of Justice, which oversees both agencies (ATF was transferred to Justice after the terrorism attacks of Sept. 11, 2001), must get this ridiculous dispute resolved and ensure that the Reno ATF office is doing the job that citizens have a right to expect of it.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be good reason for optimism.

Since Bellisle first revealed the rift and its impacts in September, the Justice Department and the two agencies have refused to answer questions — either from Bellisle or from congressional committees looking into the matter. Inquiries from U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent letters demanding answers from the ATF; the request went unanswered. Similar requests of the acting director of the ATF and Attorney General Eric Holder also have not been answered. The Justice Department reportedly has begun an investigation, but it has not revealed the results.

The ATF already is enmeshed in political controversy, of course. It has been under fire in Congress for a failed operation that allowed illegally purchased weapons to be shipped to criminals in Mexico in hopes that agents would be led to the gang kingpins. The ATF’s Phoenix office lost track of the weapons and, at least, is believed to have been used in a shoot-out that resulted in the death of a U.S. agent.

The bureau has been without a permanent director since 2006, and the lack of firm leadership of such an important agency appears to be having a negative impact on its ability to do its job.

For a dispute between two agencies to put the citizens of this community in jeopardy is simply unacceptable.

Northern Nevadans have a right to expect better from the Department of Justice. Nevada’s congressional delegation should demand better.